Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
II Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
II Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
The U.S. and Israel have been in an intense fight with Iran over the past three weeks. The beginning of this conflict is blamed on hostilities from Iran for close to fifty years. Both countries have invested heavily in the fight against Iran. Israel is also fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. The left wing media is busy trying its best to paint Israel as the mean, cruel nation that is committing genocide. There is no concern for the forty thousand Iranians killed by the wicked Ayatollah in recent months. There is no concern for the children and women used as human shields by the Muslims.
The verses that we have in this devotional all talk of the nature of the devil. He is very subtil. There are many people who are getting their direction from the devil. They are very subtil. They understand how easy it is to deceive people.
Mr. Trump called off his threat to attack the power grid in Iran for five days to give time for negotiations that he claims are getting serious. He talks big. He has made some big business deals in the past. He managed to get a second term in office. He thinks it is because he is so smart. He does not realize that God has put him in his current position, to keep the world off balance and give more opportunity for people to hear the Gospel and be saved. He is being duped by the devil who is guiding Islam.
Our country is trying hard to shut down the preaching of the Gospel. They are looking at the example of England, where people are being arrested every day for speaking against the government. Canada is trying to pass laws that will silence the truth. They only want their lies, which they claim are the truth, to be told and believed.
The devil uses his subtlety to trick people into following his lies. He tricked Eve into following his lie. He has tricked many people into believing his lies. He is using Islam as a tool to advance his evil plan. Muslims have mastered the matter of subtlety and deception. They can lie with a straight face and they can convince many people to believe their lies. They even managed to convince Mr. Trump to back off on his assault on Iran for five days. His two chief negotiators are also gullible and have bought into the lies of the Muslims.
Talk to the natural born citizens of England and find out about the lies that their government has accepted. Women and girls are being taken and raped as a regular part of life. Talk to the common, decent citizens of Minnesota and hear about how their tax dollars, to the tune of over 9 billion dollars have been stolen to help fund terrorism across the world. Talk about the Jews in cities like Toronto who are afraid of when the next Synagogue will be shot up by Muslims.
The devil transforms himself into an angel of light. There are many false religions that are feeding lies to their followers. Their followers are too lazy to check the facts and they believe the lies they are being fed. In their minds Islam is not the problem. They are being told there are a few “radical Muslims” who are making it bad for the rest of them. After all, they say, Islam is a religion of peace.
The devil has been very active and he has been able to deceive the whole world. Most people cannot see the lies because they are blinded by the god of this world. They refuse the truth and thus they cannot see the facts.
All of this is building toward the time when God will remove true saints from this world and He will usher in the antichrist, the man of sin. The lost who will be left behind, will embrace that man because he will say what the world wants to hear. The world wants peace. The world does not know what peace is. The world wants to know that they will not be “harassed” any longer by born again Christians.
The world will think they have finally received the blessing they were looking for when the antichrist gives his empty speeches and hands out cash to thousands of people. The antichrist will become more hostile as his seven year reign develops and the society of that time will just hunker down and hope for the best. The Lord Jesus Christ will return at the end of the seven year period and He will destroy the wicked. The antichrist and the false prophet will be cast directly into the lake of fire. The devil will be bound with chains for one thousand years. The wicked will be killed and cast into hell at that time. Jesus Christ will rule during that time. The only thing the wicked in hell will have to “look forward to”, is the lake of fire. That is not a pleasant thing to think about but it is where the majority of people living today will go. It is not wise to play around with the truth. It is not wise to reject the truth and believe the lies of false teachers. It is not wise to put your trust in man. The wise person puts his trust in the Lord. That is the only place of safety.
If you are one of those who has bought into the lies of the devil, you can be thankful that you are still alive and you have the opportunity to turn to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. Don’t delay that important matter. What is currently happening in the Middle East should be a wakeup call to the many who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the only Saviour. He has provided the only way of salvation. Those who will repent towards God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, receive forgiveness of sins and are given eternal life.
There are some reading these devotionals who are saved. Praise the Lord for your salvation. Learn to be a better light for the Lord in the brief life you have on this earth. Be careful not to be intimidated by wicked government policies that are being promoted by our supposedly elected parliamentarians. The prognosis for this world is not good. The hope of man is found only in knowing the true God and the true Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bartel